Episode 5
Make friends whom you can call by nicknames even when you are already old men (ジジイになってもあだ名で呼び合える友達を作れ, Jijii ni natte mo adana de yobi aeru tomodachi o tsukure) is the fifth episode of the Gintama anime. Introduction The staff of Odd Jobs Gin is going about their usual daily bickering when a delivery scooter crashes into the Otose Snack House downstairs. Barely conscious, the postman begs the Odd Jobs Trio to deliver an important package in his place. Gintoki and the others reluctantly head to the address on the package, Embassy of Inui, the Dog Star system. But the package explodes, and the trio are mistaken as terrorists. The three attempt a hasty escape, but when Shinpachi is caught, he decides to take Gintoki and Kagura down with him, and the gatekeepers quickly corner the three. Just when everybody thinks they are done for, they are saved by Gintoki’s old acquaintance Kotaro Katsura, aka Zura. Secretly observing the whole incident, the government’s police force, the Shinsengumi, decides to make their move… Synopsis (from Cruncyroll): Plot At the Yorozuya, Kagura reads a newspaper article about a serial terrorist who continues a rampage. The the trio then begin to argue and fight about Gin's missing chocolate when a guy delivering mail on a scooter crashes into Otose's Snack Bar. The injured deliery man begs the trio to deliver a package because it seemed very important and if it isn't delivered he'll lose his job. The trio take the job and end up at the Inui Embassy, who were the first Amanto to come to Earth. A guard comes and asks what they're doing and they tell him that they were asked to deliver a package. The guard tells them to go home because they're worried about bombings but Gin persists and pushes the package towards the guard. The guard knocks the package out of Gin's hand when it blows up. The trio tries to run away but the guard holds on to them and more guards join in. The guards try to attack but are slashed by Katsura Kotarou. Gin is surprised and calls him Zura to which he responds his famous line: It's not Zura, it's Katsura! ( Zura ja nai. Katsura da!). After they somewhat catch up, the group runs since the guards begin to chase them again. Shinpachi and Kagura watch t.v in the Jouishishi headquarters as Ketsuno Ana reports of the bombing which shows the trio clearly on tape. Shinpachi asks Gin what type of person Katsura is and Gin responds by saying that he is a terrorist. Katsura approaches with members of the Jouishishi and tells the trio that they are freedom fighters. In the Shisengumi base, Hijikata informs Kondou that Yamazaki is spying on Katsura but not to get excited untill he's dead. Katsura explains his Anti-Foreigner movement as Gin realizes , because the delivery gut was there, that the whole thing with the delivery man was a plot by Katsura to get Gin's hands dirty. Katsura asks Gin to join his movement like Gin helped Katsura during the war with the Amanto. He has a flashback to where Gin and Katsura are surronded by Amanto. While Katsura wants to give up, Gin tells him to stand up and fight. Then (now) Katsura explains how Gin was like an avenging angel and a war god who was feared by many. Gin responds by saying he doesn't like terrorism and the war is over. After the two argue, Katsura asks him again to join and that their next target is the spaceship terminal where Amanto enter. At that time the Shisengumi burst in and Katsura and the trio run away. Gin is attacked by Hijikata.Hijikata slahes at Gin who dodges but gets his yukata torn. The fight contiues until Okita shoots his bazooka at both of them. Gin escapes into a room with the rest of the gang. Katsura pulls out the bomb he was planning to use on the terminal but Gin stops him and tells him to stop getting his hands dirty. Katsura tells Gin that he sticks to his beliefs unlike Gin who "switched sides" after the war. Gin tells him that he sticks to his own beliefs, protects what he want, and doesn't want to see his friends die when Kagura accidentally switches on the bomb. The trio runs out of the room before the Shisengumi can fire, and tells them about the bomb. The Shisengumi run away too as the trio play a game to see who holds the bomb. With only 11 seconds left they notice a window and Kagura uses her umbrella to knock Gin and the bomb out of it. Gin throws the bomb outside where it explodes and he holds on to a curtain by a window. Katsura, who is watching from the roof, thinks that it's not such a bad thing to have a friend who never changes. Characters *Sakata Gintoki *Shimura Shinpachi *Kagura *Katsura Kotarou (debut) *Otose *Kondou Isao (debut) *Hijikata Toushirou (debut) *Okita Sougo (debut) *Yamazaki Sagaru (debut) *Shimura Tae (mentioned) *Ketsuno Crystel (debut) *Harada Unosuke (debut) Trivia * Pelican logo of postal delivery scooter - ペリカン便 perikan bin or Pelican Delivery was a courier service operated by Nippon Express Co., Ltd unil year 2009 March, and taken over by JPExpress Co., Ltd thereafter. * The Amanto Embassy belongs to Planet Inui-sei 戌威星, which as mentioned in this episode, was the first Amanto race to descend upon Earth via military force. The first character inu has the same pronunciation as dog 犬. This also explains why Kagura was calling to the guard like calling to a dog. * Nicknames galore - :* When Katsura makes his presence known to Gintoki, the first words Gintoki uttered were, 'Zura, is it? Zura Kotarou, is it?', thereby establishing Katsura's permanent nickname for the rest of the series. Katsura replied with a powerful right-hand upper cut and the words that would go on to become his catchphrase, ' It's not Zura, It's Katsura'. Refer to Katsura Kotarou 桂 小太郎 for an explanation on 'Zura'. :* When Katsura took out the time bomb originally meant for the Terminal to use against the Shinsengumi, Gintoki asked him in a serious tone to stop, addressing him as 'Katsura', and not 'Zura', possibly the only time in the series that Gintoki ever called him by his actual name. :* When Shinpachi asked Gintoki what kind of a person is Katsura, Gintoki replied 爆弾魔 bakudan ma, aka Bomb Demon, referring to Katsura's fanaticism in using bombs. :* When Hijikata first attacked Gintoki, Gintoki asked as an insult, how did someone with such small eyes pass the interview for police, and told him to open up his eyes. :* Hijikata's reply to Gintoki was that he has 'dead-fish eyes' and therefore in no position to lecture others. :* When Katsura, Gintoki and company were escaping from armed police Shinsengumi, Katsura addresses Gintoki as 'Boss', to which Gintoki replied 'Who's your Boss?'. Kagura interjected by saying that she always wanted to be the head in whatever she does, thereby sowing the seeds for Katsura to address her as 'Leader' in future episodes. :* Kagura and Shinpachi improvised a nickname of 'Hairy Eyebrows' 毛毛眉 kezu kezu mayu for the delivery man. * It is noted that as the series go on, especially after Katsura's sidekick Elizabeth makes his appearance, Katsura's inclination to violence or violent methods is diminished, and increasingly he gets roughed up by Gintoki and company instead. Thus far, this is the only episode in which viewers see Katsura roughing up Gintoki. * Katsura is already a fugitive wanted by the Shinsengumi even as he makes his first appearance. On the wanted notice that Hijikata is holding, Katsura is described as an 'Joui Faction Extremist Ronin', testament to his earlier terrorist-like activities prior to this episode, though verbally Hijikata concedes that Katsura was once a Joui War Amanto-fighting hero. * While Yorozuya are running with the time bomb, they played the 尻取 shiritori game. For the game rules, refer to Wikipedia Link. * Worth noting also is when Gintoki realised that Katsura had tricked him into getting involved in the Jouishishi activities, Gintoki did not get angry, but still tried to reason with Katsura, even asking him to stop at one point in this episode, though they have not met each other for a while already (Katsura mentioned in the same episode that Gintoki, aka Shiroyasha, disappeared after the Joui Wars, whereabouts unknown). This incident underlines perhaps the depth of their friendship. In Episode 61 Benizakura Chapter's final instalment, in response to his men's request for further instructions when they were surrounded by Amantos, Katsura said 'We will hold them back' and ordered his men to escape first, taking for granted that Gintoki would fight alongside him, which Gintoki did. * At the end of the episode, during the Ginpachi Sensei section, Gintoki appears to be smoking when Hijikata says that this is inappropriate. Gin says that it is a lollipop and it appears like it has fire from the excessive time he has been sucking it. This is probably a parody to the 4Kids version of One Piece, where they replaced one of the main character's, Sanji's, cigarette with a lollipop. * 小泉 ピン子 koizumi pinko is listed as the main actress on the TV drama ほのぼのドラマ honobono dorama that Hijikata and Okita rushed back to watch - :* this refers to 泉 ピン子 Izumi Pinko, a veteran actress well-known for her mother-wife roles in touching family dramas, in particular おしん Oshin. For details, refer to Japanese Wikipedia. :* ほのぼの honobono means heart-warming, yet the title of the episode refers to ghosts. :* Refer to Episode 30 for more details on the spoof drama 「渡る世間は鬼しかいねえコノヤロー！！」 aka 'This world is filled with ghosts, you ba$tard !!'. ---- Back to Episode List Go back to Main Page ---- References Category:Content Category:Episodes